If you want to read about higher strategy this is not the book for you. And If you want to learn about the Luftwaffe's failure to win the Battle of Stalingrad and then keep 6th army alive you'll have to look elsewhere. Where should you look? At Joel Hayward's definitive, excellent STOPPED AT STALINGRAD: THE LUFTWAFFE AND HITLER'S DEFEAT IN THE EAST. But if you want to learn about the suffering of ordinary ground troops on both sides THIS IS THE RIGHT BOOK! Read Hayward and Beevor together and you've got the whole picture. It a grim, miserable but poignant picture. Stalingrad is what happens when the poor recruits of two evil tyrants square off and are not allowed to retreat 'even one inch'.

Antony Beevor has written an important book because there is an appalling lack of knowledge in the Western World about what happened in the Soviet-German theater during World War II so anything that contributes to alleviating this problem is welcome. Therefore, I think the fact that a significant fraction of the book is devoted to describing what happened in the war before the German's began their offensive towards Stalingrad and the Caucasus is worthwhile.
I do agree with other reviewers who state that the actual fighting inside Stalingrad is not described adequately. Two legendary engagements within the city (the Battle of the Grain Elevator and "Pavlov's House") are just given a few lines each. A more detailed description of what the fighters on each side went through would have given a real taste of how the campaign has fought.
On the other hand, Beevor does make some important points that have have been glossed over in other accounts of the battle. First, unlike other writers, Beevor does not portray German Sixth Army commander Paulus as just a simple-minded lackey of [dictator] who led his men into disaster and then refused to try to save them after they were cut off inside the "Kessel". Beevor points out that the Sixth Army was in very poor condition at the time of Manstein's attempt to reach the Kessel and so it would not have been possible for the Sixth Army to punch through the Soviet ring. Similarly, he also points out that not all the Rumanian troops fighting on the side of the Germans were incompetant bunglers as they are often portrayed.
Beevor also makes clear that Goebbels' infamous "Total War" campaign, begun just at the time the Sixth Army surrendered, was a thinly disguised attempt to create another "stab-in-the back" legend (as in the 1918 armistice), i.e. to shift the blame for the disaster from [dictator] and the [German] leadership onto the traditional aristocracy and the Army high command which was an important component of the German (or really, Prussian) ruling elite.
Finally, Beevor makes clear that the German prisoners could not expect to receive treatment much better than that which they gave to the Soviet prisoners they had previously captured and who were starved and brutalized in the millions. This explains why half of the 91,000 prisoners taken died within 3 months and why only 5,000 survived to return to Germany in the 1950's.

This is certainly a fantastic book, but it is only one of three books you need if you want to understand the Battle of Stalingrad. You must also buy these two exceptional books:

A) Joel S. A. Hayward, "Stopped at Stalingrad: The Luftwaffe and Hitlers Defeat in the East 1942-1943". This acclaimed book explains with an insightful and thorough way all of the German strategic decisions for the whole Stalingrad campaign, which went from June 1942 to March 1943. Serious scholars of Stalingrad MUST have Hayward's masterpice.

B) John Erickson, "The Road to Stalingrad: Stalin's War with Germany, Vol. 1". This equally acclaimed analysis explains the Soviet military and political decisions as well as all Soviet military operations, during the same period. It is also indispensible.

Now for what Beevor sets out to do (to portray the experiences and suffering of the sad conscripts on both sides who had to perform all the strategic moves that Hayward and Erickson explain) Beevor's book is a success. You may well feel as horrified as I did that the Soviet commanders were as ruthless with their own soldiers as the Nazis were with theirs. And the civilians caught in the middle suffered just as bad.

Some journalists and politicians have been recently saying that America 's war on Iraq or Afganistan could become another Stalingrad. What ignorant fools they are. If they only read Beevor's book they would know that no western nation, let alone the moderate America and United Kingdom, would maltreat their armed forces and force them to accept such high casualty rates. No way, Jose!

Get Beevor's book and the other two I mentioned and you have all bases covered in terms of understanding Stalingrad. These three are all great books.

A scientist, his sidekick and a big strong sailor are going to have their lives changed forever when they are sent to capture a giant octopus. But, instead, they fall overboard and find out what they think is an octopus is really a giant submarine with a Captain Nimo and a crew that speaks their own language (which the trio calls "the submarine language")! In this submarine, they go on millions of adventures like: tunneling through blocks of ice in the antartic, zooming through tunnels from sea to sea, and seeing every different kind of fish you could ever imagine. The only problem is the scientist's sidekick joins with the big sailor, Ned, and together they try to escape. They have many of their own adventures too, like when they try to escape the first time and they almost get caught by cannibals. The second time they escape and write a story which you will read if you want to read it and it's called, "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea". If you're looking for an adventurous book that's exciting and funny too, then just read the book I did a review on. Lindsey (age 9)

A action-packed thriller, 20,000 leagues under the sea starts ou t when M. Arronax and his servant, Conseil, are asked to help track down and kill a sea monster on the Abraham Lincoln. When a Canadian named Ned Land harpoons the monster,it sinks the Abraham Lincoln. M. Arronax, Conseil, and Ned survive and are taken aboard the monster which is a submarine called the Nautilus. On there voyage they cruise the world and learn many secrets of the sea. When the captain of the Nautilus, Captian Nemo starts to go mad, M. Arronax, Conseil, and Ned escape the Nautilus and are drawn in to a legendary whirlpool in a mini-boat. There, the Nautilus is destroyed, but the people in the boat live.
The reason I gave this book 5 stars is because it's action-packed, very creative, well written, and is full of knowledge.

This is Verne's classic novel about Captain Nemo and his submarine Nautilus. What really fascinated me when reading this story and other Verne novels was not only Verne's contributions to the science fiction genre, but his founding of a whole new genre, one that, as far as I know, he has never been given credit. I think Verne was the first to write the techno-novel, a work that is filled with technical details ala Tom Clancy. For this novel, Verne did considerable research to describe what was known as accurately as possible. Professor Arronax and his servant Conseil board a U. S. ship that is searching for a monster that has sunk a number of other ships. They discover that it isn't a monster at all but a submarine, captained by a mysterious man known only as Nemo (Verne will present readers with Nemo once again in "The Mysterious Island"). Arronax, Conseil, and an American harpooner named Ned Land travel with Nemo and see many wonderous things and have many adventures. Verne's "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea" has gotten some very poor reviews over the decades since it first appeared in 1869. In many cases, it was because of the translation and not because of Verne. A number of the early translators inserted their own sections with their own ideas and opinions and deleted much of Verne's own words. So, readers should be aware of the translator. I read an excellent translation by Walter James Miller that was also annotated. Such an annotated volume can prove to be very helpful to teenagers getting acquainted with Nemo and his submarine.

After a few very, and I mean VERY, disappointing Star Wars novels, I looked forward to the New Jedi Order. I wasn't all that pleased with Vector Prime, however, for various reasons, not including the shocking passing of one of our beloved heroes (Hey, I didn't want him to die, but I thought it enhanced, instead of took away from, the plot). Anyway, Dark Tide I: Onslaught was superior to Vector Prime, and was a good book on its own, in many ways. There was a lot of great action, including some cool lightsaber battles featuring Luke (Sadly, I find him severely underused in today's Star Wars books) and Rogue Squadron (also cool). Also, we got to see a better look at these Yuuzhan Vong aliens. The use of living creatures instead of machines is a good idea (although this was established in Vector Prime) and, although I'm actually torn on this subject, I thought it was a good idea not to include scenes from the aliens' point of view until the very end. This gave me the feeling that these new invaders were very dark and mysterious--a phantom menace, almost. And, of course, you can't go wrong if you include Corran Horn! But, however, I still had a few problems with Onslaught. Luke was still underused, in my own opinion, and the inclusion of Kyp was pointless (but this may pay off in Dark Tide II). Danni Quee is boring as hell, and Lando certainly needed more attention. And why are the Solo kids the big heroes all of a sudden? Don't they have their own series? It seemed, like in pretty much every Star Wars novel, our heroes end up running from instead of defeating the enemy. Nevertheless, I did like Dark Tide I: Onslaught. The New Jedi Order series has promise, I think, but I'd like to see a big epic novel involving the grand end to this Yuuzhan Vong invasion (I certainly don't want this whole debacle to be carried on long enough for us Star Wars fans to be bored to hell). In short, I'm feeling more optimistic to Star Wars literature, and am looking forward to Rogue Planet.

I have read nearly all of the star wars novels except the X wing series and the young jedi series. This book would have to be in the top five with I, Jedi and the zahn titles. Althought I like all aspects of star wars, what has always truly excited me was Jedi, and finally that is what we are getting. Luke always seemed to be a difficult character to portray by authors. Some of them even made luke seem weak and almost ordinary to me. This guy could defeat darth vader, but seemed to have trouble dealing with so many other weaker villains. But in this book, he truly acts like a Jedi MASTER. He is truly powerful but still has limits. Also it is great to see other characters becoming competent Jedi as well. The Solo kids can hold their own. I love the way Jacen's character is being developed. He is questioning nearly every aspect of the jedi and the force, but his questions are legit and do deserve some thought. Mara Jade is powerful and in character even through her illness. And it is nice to see some romantic interaction between her and luke-they are married after all. Just because she is such a strong and reserved character doesn't mean she can't show love to her husband and family. Corran Horn is my new favorite character since I, Jedi. It was nice to see him used in a significant way. It is interesting to see the rift growing within the Jedi. Clearly a confrontation between the factions is in the future. Either that or the differences in the groups will be an exploited weakness. For all the readers who complain we dont see enough of han, lando, and others, remember the title of this new storyline: The New Jedi Order. Now that the jedi are once again becoming powerful and numerous, they need to have an enemy. And the Yuuzhan Vong are the epitome of evil. They truly are a worthy opponent. I do think that Leia seemed a bit weak and out of character. And this book was definitely too short.

Dark Tide I: Onslaught lives up to it's ominous title from page one onward. The New Republic Senate refuses to believe that the Yuuzhan Vong are a real threat. So Leia takes it upon herself to help evacuate the refugees in the path of the Vong's merciless invasion of the Outer Rim worlds. Anakin Solo accompanies Mara on what is supposed to be a restful vacation for her on peaceful Dantooine, but the two end up having to fight for their lives. Luke and Jacen Solo go to Belkaldan to see what is left of the research facility attacked in the first New Jedi Order book, Vector Prime. Jacen's twin sister Jaina, who is a super pilot in addition to being a Jedi, joins Rogue Squadron (the Solo kids are starting to get really cool now that they're growing up). Corran and Ganner investigate the wherabouts of students on an archealogical dig. And here's where the real action begins. Most everyone ends up on Dantooine, fleeing from the Vong. Now they begin their desperate battle. If they lose, they all die. I loved how this was action packed all the way through, and didn't drag at points like some of the Star Wars books. I'm looking forward to reading Dark Tide II, Ruin.

Treasure Island, a story about a boy who goes on an adventure of a lifetime (a treasure hunt!), is an action packed book for young adults to enjoy. Though the book had too much description to get to the point, it was a good read. From good guys, to bad guys, sailors, to mutineers, friends to enemies, Treasure Island has it all. The authors' word choice for this book is incredibly sophisticated and makes the book a little more descriptive, ( though I was not always sure what the words meant). Using "ship slang" and having the characters say just what they need to say at the right time. The theme in this book is one we always need to keep in mind "be careful who you trust, people aren't always to be what they appear to be". So if ever you need a good book to read I definitely recommend Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island.

Giving Treasure Island five stars is like declaring Helen of Troy homecoming queen. It's too little,too late. This is the classic tale of pirates. Its' themes have been worked and worked again,but it remains untouched. Stevenson is a master storyteller at the top of his form. From beginning to end the plot never lags,and the characters possess a richness and depth rare in an adventure story. Every reader of English ought to make their acquaintance--Jim Hawkins,Billy Bones,Old Pew,Silver,and the rest--at some time in his life,preferably when he is young,and his heart still believes it can find that treasure. Treasure Island has been francised,moppetized,filmed,and abridged,but never bettered. Accept no substitues! Read the entire book. There is plenty here for children and adults. Like all great literature,it works on more than one level. Dominating the whole Story is the figure of Long John Silver. As his name implies he has a lunar quality. He is attractive,facinating,powerful,but with a dark side. Again,he is murdering,lying,and infinitly self-seeking,yet like Jim we cannot help liking him and wanting him to like us. At this level Treasure Island is a study in criminality that asks: Why is it that the best,the most full of natural power, often turn their gifts to evil? And why do we find evil so attractive? A word about editions. There are many,but by far the best is the hardcover featuring the illustrations of N.C. Wyeth. No one has succeeded as he has in capturing the spirit of the tale. If you are looking for a cheaper paperback edition that won't blind you with cramped layout, or ruin the whole experience with goofy illustratons,choose the Puffin Classic. It's unabridged,sturdy,and features a beautiful cover illustration.

"Treasure Island" is the classic adventure novel by Robert Louis Stevenson. Set on the high seas amid treasures and pirates, it is the story of a young boy's adventure. "Treasure Island" has been done by everyone from Disney to the Muppets. It's been imitated many times and influenced countless books and movies.

A mysterious pirate shows up at an inn owned by Jim Hawkin's mother. The pirate is killed by a gang of rogues, but Jim finds a treasure map belonging to the pirate. Jim then embarks on a journey to far away island to find the treasure. Of course, nobody can be trusted - especially the cook, Long John Silver. With his peg leg and parrot, Silver is the stereotypical pirate. Once the island is reached, sides are chosen - the mutinous pirates against the ship's crew. Jim goes on a journey within a journey on the island, going from one side to another, as the treasure is hunted for.

Everyone should read this book at some point. It's especially good for young boys, due to the fact that the main character (Jim) is a young boy. It's well crafted, and easy to read. And it's hard to put down once you get going. What else can you ask for?

No, I'm not talking about "Belief Systems." Of course I could use "Transformational Vocabulary" and call this book "a little aromatic."

The tone of this book contains a lot of energy and inspiration but the content is another story. It sensationalizes and dramatizes many issues (just count how many exclamation points appear and how many times the word "power" comes up). Do we really have to become "Giants" to be happy?

This book alleges to teach you "How to take immediate control of your mental, emotional, physical, and financial destiny!" I found it disturbing that he includes "fianancial" as a fifth dimension of man. Dr. Stephen Covey, in "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People", more expertly describes man's quality of life depending upon the first four. He instructs us that each dimension "interdependently" affects the other and the key to improving one is to improve the others. For example, exercising (physical) can give us more energy to read(mental). This book explains neither connection nor natural sequence between each of the human dimensions. The 7 Habits depicts them in order: physical, mental, social (or emotional), and spiritual, telling us that each one contains and depends upon the others before it. This book totally neglects the spiritual dimension and seems to have replaced it with this "financial" dimension. While Covey includes "financial" into the "physical" section, Robbins makes it into a fifth dimension, over-emphasizing the importance of money.

While Robbins includes a brief section on analyzing our time spent into "important" and "urgent" categories telling us to spend time on the important, Covey again is more intricate and accurate. He uses a time quadrant, including urgent but not important , urgent and important , neither important nor urgent, and important but not urgent (the most desirable quad to spend time in.)

A section of Robbins' book carries the title, "The Ultimate Challenge: What One Person Can Do." But Covey teaches us that we can achieve far more together than each of us could independently. This he calls "interdependence," something Robbins neglects in this book.

While Robbins' based his book upon techniques that may or may not work depending upon the situation, Covey based his book on principles that never change. Awaken the Giant teaches us outside-in strategies like "Transformational Vocabulary" to change our attitude or behavior. The 7 Habits teaches us inside-out strategies like changing our marriage by first changing ourselves or changing our behaviors by first changing what our behaviors flow from- our perceptions. Robbins based his book on the assumption that you already know what you want (money, sex, power, more money, good looks) Covey bases his book on the idea that we can only be effective climbing the ladder of success if it is leaned against the right wall. While Robbins' book shows us how to use our moods to achieve, Covey's teaches us Proactivity: using the space between stimulus and response to act based upon values, not moods.

Covey wrote another book just on the success stories of the 7 Habits along with further instruction: "Living the Seven Habits". To date, Robbins has published no "Living Awaken the Giant Within" and no wonder.

You may even want to bypass the self-help books altogether and take another route: If you want to make more money, read a Financial Strategy book. If you want to get into better shape, read a Fitness book. If you want to pursue the "Ultimate Solution" to homelessness, the prison system, or gang violence, read a Sociology book. This book displays no expertise on any of these subjects, although it professes to.

If value were weight, this would be one of the three heaviest books in the universe. Of all the great deals you'll ever cut in your life, paying under $15.00 for this book is by far the steal of the century. If I had a choice of a new Mercedes and never holding this book in my hands or the book and no Mercedes..... I wouldn't even bat an eye choosing "Awaken the Giant Within." And I dearly love Mercedes.

This one book dramatically upgrades the hardware we call the human brain. It makes it about a hundred times easier to accomplish whatever you want to accomplish. It won't turn you into a Tony clone. It will bring the very best of YOU out easily.

I owe my life and my web site to a great coach by the name of Tony Robbins. His work really did dramatically upgrade my mental hardware. I was chronically depressed for 30 years, panic attacks, 3 suicide attempts, drugs, road rage.... I was always one to take action. Look at me now. I'm still taking a lot of action, very different action.

I agree with the previous reviewer. The guy from Los Angeles knows not of what he babbles.

I bought this book when it first came out in hardcover and have bought several paperbacks for friends and family members. I went back and looked at the goals I set on the pages of that hardcover book in 1991 and I ACHIEVED EVERY SINGLE GOAL!!! I overcame a serious illness, met my solemate and married her, bought the dream house, got closer to God, achieved my career goals, etc. etc..

I used the techniques and took the action, turned pain into pleasure and now I'm working on my next set of goals. The book is fun reading. I appreciated the areas that were highlighted, underlined and italicized for quick review. I was curious about all the negative one-star reviews and wonder if they really read the book and/or put what Tony Robbins teaches into action. However, it looks like the vast majority of the reviewers have had great experiences similar to mine. With only the exception of the Holy Bible, this book, ranks right up there with the greatest books of all time. Everything is a choice. I'm very grateful I bought this book and applied its content. It truly brought joy, love and satisfaction into my life.

Every now and then I have the displeasure to find out what happens when a writer publishes something that with a little touch up could have been a lot better. The New Rebellion is one such book. The plot was there, the enemies were there, but something is missing. The plot involves yet another Dark Jedi trying to kill everyone in the New Republic by putting a bomb into every droid off the assembly line. It sounds okay, but as the book goes on you realize how impractical this plot is. Kueller is a reasonably frightening, if callow, enemy. He does everything right up to the point when someone tries to stop him. Then he seems to shut down, and allow himself to be slain.

The climaz was rather well done, actually, but the rest of the book felt like it was just taking up space. Maybe the book was about a hundred an fifty pages of information crammed into 300. The writing also felt dry at times, like the author knew that the book wasn't turning out properly, but didn't know how to fix it. Indeed, it feels like Rusch knew what the beggining and end of the book were going to be, but didn't have a clue how to connect the two.

If you can put up with pieces of dry, boring writing here and there, you can find some fun in this book. Otherwise, you should read the Jedi Academy Trilogy, or The Courtship of Princess Leia.

There were only two things that I didn't like about this book. The first was that the plot was a little bit washed out. It seemed to me to be a bit on the predictable side. The other thing I didn't like was Han's old smuggler friends, but that's just me. I've never been big on things having to do with smuggler's, bounty hunter's,ect. I do realize that they are an important part of the Star Wars universe, so I can't say they made the book bad.

Here's what I did like:

1)Cole whatever-his-last-name-is. (I don't remember) Finally, someone decides to bring in a character who is just an everyday joe schmo, rather than an all out powerful person who is good at EVERYTHING.

2)Despite my previous mentioning of washed-out plot ideas, atleast this time the superweapon in question was something new. It was not a Death Star/Sun Crusher/Centerpoint Station, but droids? I wouldn't have thought of it, let me just say that much.

3)Readability- Although I think that Barbara Hambly's stories are quite creative, I have to read her books at least three times before I get them, and they still give me a headache just by the way she writes. Everything is so vague. In this book, everything was easy to understand, and things flowed very well.

It was not my favorite of all time (Star Wars), but I'm defenitely happy to have it in my collection.

In yet ANOTHER installment in the ever-growing list of Star Wars novels, Kristine Kathryn Rusch makes a more-than-valiant effort with her contribution of "The New Rebellion". At first I was very skeptical, but was later persuaded by her fast-paced, page-turning style. Reminiscent of Kevin J. Anderson's novels, "The New Rebellion" is chock full of colorful characters, lightning-quick pacing, and engrossing plots. I was disappointed by the "fate of the world hanging in the balance" syndrome that affects so many of the Star Wars novels...I was hoping for a more low-key premise. The "Tales" books are exemplary of excellent "toned-down" writing. I can't even count the number of times our anxious-to-settle-down-and-relax heroes of the Rebellion are thrust into a cataclysmic showdown that will decide the fate of the entire universe. I'd simply be interested in knowing how Luke Skywalker takes his coffee...creamed or black. Despite the inflated plot, I found this novel to be a thouroughly enjoyable read. I would recommend this to any devout Star Wars fan...everyone else should read it only if they get the time

If you can accept some of the more outlandish places, people, and things that Dave Wolverton created to exist in the Star Wars Universe, this is a good book.

If you have trouble with... 1) an incredibly wealthy, well-armed government that was left alone by the Empire

and

2) a planet with a large number of force-sensitives, including many which could rival the Emperor in their lust for power that were not hunted down...

then you are going to have problems with this book.

I am of the latter mind. Both items seem to be something the Emperor would have attempted to conquer or destroy. The fact that the Witches of Dathomir were able to beat Jedi 400 years earlier is also far-fetched.

And continuing in the far-fetched vein, the actions of Leia are nearly irreconciable with what we have seen in the movies. She is a woman of conviction and passion. If she fell in love with Han, there would be no turning away to another suitor no matter how politically expedient.

Zsinj, as the villain, was nearly a comic opera buffoon as his personality was further developed only with the release of the Wraith Squadron books a few years later.

Despite these misgivings, I see the characters of Isolder and Teneniel Djo having some depth and I think some of Wolverton's descriptions of the light side of the force as the best that have been written.

This is my favorite of all the star wars books. I originally read it when it first came out but have re-read it several times since. I now have a basis for comparison.

Han is my favorite character, so any book that has a lot of him in it is likely to be a favorite. The story starts when it looks like Han will lose Leia. He wins a planet for her then kidnapes her to that planet.

We are then introduced to the force power witches. One ends up in lukes jedi academy. Reading this book is a must in my opinion because some of it is the basis for future books.

The story has action, danger and romance. The characters are true to what we expect. The book also continues the story of war lord Zsing (and completes it) from x-wing series. I only wish that Dark Horse comics would do this book as a comic like they did the Thrawn trilogy.

Well, I have to say that I didn't expect to like this book nearly as much as I did, on acount of the somewhat irritating title. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that it was in fact an excellent book, one of the most entertaining Star Wars books I have read in a while. The writing was skilled, humourous, and portrayed everyone well, so that I felt as if I was there. Set four years after Return of the Jedi, in this book the sixty-three incredibally rich planets of the Hapes cluster say they will join the fledgling New Republic if Leia will marry the incredibally handsome Prince Isolder of the Hapes Cluster. She seriously considers it, and Han takes that to mean she doesn't love him anymore, so he kidnapps her to the planet Dathomir which he won in a card game, in the hopes that being alone with him will make her love him again. What he doesn't realize is that the planet is crawling with giant rancors and fierce warrior women who use men as slaves. Meanwhile, Luke and Isolder follow them to try and rescue Leia, and end up getting "captured" by Teneniel Djo, who is one of these warrior women, who decides to make Luke her slave/husband. As to how this mix-up is finally solved, well, you'll just have to read the book because I'm not telling! One problem I had with this book was that it seemed to skip over too many years between itself and The Truce at Bakura, and then expect me to know what was happening politically at that time. Just who is this Zsinj? Did I miss a book or something? He certainly wasn't mentioned in The Truce at Bakura which, as far as I know is the last book before this one. Anyway, back to good points. This book, I thought, portrayed all the characters with expertise, even Luke, who a lot of authors seem to have trouble with. Also, this book actually made me gain some interest in Han and Leia's relationship, which I previously ignored, since because Luke was always my favorite character I was always more interested in his relationships. (hint: Mara Jade) This book though, effectively brought out both of Han and Leia's hotheaded personalities, and very well illustrated the essencse of their often rocky relationship. Also, going back to Luke's relationships, his 'almost, sort of, mutual like' he had with Teneniel was something I found more funny than annoying and frustrating like I have found many of his other relationships. (Aka Gaeriel and Callista, (loud gagging noises)) I also knew from the beginning that Teneniel was going to end up with _______ because their daughter, Tenel Ka was one of the main characters in the series, Young Jedi Knights. Another thing I loved about this book was that Dathomir was such a cool planet. A planet full of warrior women who ride rancors and wield primitive weapons. Can it get any cooler? I doubt it! Anyway, I would recommend this book to any Star Wars fan, especially those who want to see how Han and Leia finally get married.

Hailed as Chinua Achebe's masterpiece and sold for millions of copies worldwide, 'Things Fall Apart' is in my opinion an average story that is overhyped.

In the story, Okonkwo is a strong warrior who begins his life with disadvantages but works his way to earn titles, respect and wealth in his village. A manslaughter incident costs him seven years of exile, during which his village as well as the neighbouring villages find themselves changed and divided under the influence of missionaries importing the Christian religion. Okonkwo returns disappointed but determined to unify the clan again, not knowing a worse fate awaits him...

This story is largely about tribal life in Africa, with all its intimate details about customs, beliefs and practices. On one hand, Chinua Achebe portrays suffering people (especially women and children) who are victims of tribal systems. Wives are ill-treated by husbands, while some children become sacrifices for disputes or religion. On the other hand, Chinua Achebe questions the authority and power of the Westerners who attempt to change the villages via import of their own religion and law.

If there is a central theme in this book, it would be division -- as the title itself suggests. This begins only when the missionaries arrive at Umuofia and other villages. Christ says that He brings division, and this prophecy is fulfilled when one of Okonkwo's sons leaves home to embrace Christianity. On a larger scale, people in the village are divided amongst themselves. This division, like all others, leads to inevitable despair.

'Things Fall Apart' is simple in both language and content. It is easy to read and can be completed in a single sitting. However, unless one is interested in the rich customs of African tribal life, this book is otherwise very average and uncaptivating.

This book is strongly recommended for all who are interested in African culture and way of life.

If you are a reader like myself trying to discover the greatness of Chinua Achebe's most famous work, then you may end up rather disappointed by this somewhat average story.

Chinua Achebe's "Things Fall Apart" works on many levels, a story of Nigerian tribal life before the colonization by whites, and the tale of Okonkwo, a tribal leader.

The prose is simple, yet descriptive in immersing the reader within the daily life of a village. We learn the customs, see the people both struggle and prosper with their farming, and watch as Okonkwo rises to prominence within his group. Determined not to become like his ne'er do well but well-liked father, Okonkwo is a hard worker, ambitious leader, but cruel to his family. As the story unfolds, he allows his pride and sense of duty to tradition overcome what in his heart he knows must be wrong. There is a moving portion involving an adopted son from a rival village where the reader suspects that a tragic outcome awaits.
Eventually, an accident, but serious transgression, results in his exile from the village. Okonkwo remains determined to return and take his place among the tribal leaders, but then the white men arrive with their new religious ideas.
This is one of those books that you wonder about as your reading, until you've completed it and then realize you have to read it again to catch all of the ideas between the lines.
Okonkwo is a well-drawn character, full of strengths and character flaws that make this novel compelling.
It's a thinker.

I was required to read this book in a college literature class and actually dreaded reading it because I really had no interest in Africa. After reading this book by the amazingly talented Chinua Achebe, I became more interested in Africa than I would have ever thought possible! Achebe has masterful skill in portraying African culture to the readers. He colors Africa in a magnificent yet somewhat tragic shade.

I wrote an essay in college based on the Nigerian folktales in this book and received a 100% from my professor. This book has the power to touch lives and I recommend it to absolutely everybody on the planet. I have given my copy to my brother in hopes of educating one more person in this world on African culture. If you think this book is just for African Americans you're wrong... I am caucasian and this book has become my absolute favorite ever!

Please buy this book and when you've read it pass it along to someone else. This book really enlightens people and makes the world more aware of the great and slightly overlooked continent of Africa - and in particular, Nigeria. I will travel to Africa someday solely because of this book!